Jewish group commends criticism of North Korea basketball game

A Jewish human rights group is applauding the National Basketball Retired Players Association
for denouncing an exhibition game being led by Dennis Rodman in North Korea to mark the birthday of
leader Kim Jong Un.

Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean at the
Simon
Wiesenthal Center, said in a statement that the game “does nothing but give the North Korean
propaganda machine an undeserved opportunity to change the narrative of this dangerous, nuclearized
bully, into a fun-loving, youthful basketball fan.”

The retired players’
association said in
a statement today that it neither sanctions nor supports the game.

“Under the right circumstances basketball can serve as a bridge to bring communities together,
but these are not those circumstances,” Chairman Otis Birdsong said.

He echoed the sentiment of NBA Commissioner David Stern, who has said that the NBA also is not
participating in or supporting Rodman’s trip.

Rodman and several other former NBA players plan to play in Pyongyang on Wednesday with North
Koreans.

The Los Angeles-based Simon Wiesenthal Center has previously spoken out against the game,
including at a Monday news conference with North Koreans at the Museum of Tolerance in New
York.